Rifle-grenade



J. v. MCADAM. RIFLE GRENADE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT.20,'1918.

Patented Apr. 19x 1921.

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l Iv JOHN v. Meenemen THEUNiTEn STATES-ARMY.:

RULE-GRENADE.

imanes.'

specification @Letterman "Patented Apr. 19,1921.V Application led September 20, 1918. Serial No. 255,015. Y .f v i (Finniiunnisnl THE Aer er MARGH 3,' islas; 2a STAT. L., 625.)

the Chief ofOrdnanee, have invented Improvements RilefG'renades, of which the following isa specification.

The invention described herein may be used by theGovernment,or any ofits oiiicers or Vemployees in prosecution of work for'the Government, or by vvany other person Y Y inthe United States, without the payment of any royalty thereoiigg, Y j' ,e

AThis invention relates to the improvement of rifle grenades ofthe type shown in British Patent 100,700,.`Vi ven and Bessiere, in which the bullet `from the rifle passes` through an aperturein the grenade. This type of grenade may be used with ordinary rifle ammunition. 'e

Itis one object of Vmy invention to reduce the number of parts required, so that the grenade can be easily and cheaply constructed and therefore readily and quickly made in large quantities. A

x Another object is toY provide a grenade which may be readily disassembled ,so that access .may readily be had to the interior parts;

of this type.l in which a standard small arms v or other suitable primer may be used to discharge the jective. f Y y.

Another object is to provide a grenade in which the primer may be placed.- von the inside. In this waythe primer r is protected grenade upon reaching its obfromV inadvertent blows and the grenade is therefore safer tohandle and may be more easily packed for shipment. y Other objects are tolprovide a` grenade in which the primer maybe Vstruck by the Y fuse` must 1 be used.

Anotherobj'ect of indyvk invention is'torprovide a grenade in which the'detonatorcan be inserted or removedlwithout disassem- A further object is toprovide a grenade bling Ythe grenade. This will permit the removal kof thepdetonator beforeV shipping so A that grenades of this type may be safely and conveniently transported, and the detonator applied thereto inthe field.

Another object isto provide a grenade which may be" insertedinto the discharger'4v 'f with either'end up. The foregoing objects are'attamed by a grenade embodying vmy invention, one4 form'rofwhich'is shown in the annexed drawinga'wherein'; Y

Figure l `lisja fplanview of-the grenade removed from the discharger, l Y `l Fig. 2,Y a sectionalviewtalken Aon the sition in the discharger, Y

Fig. '3, a sectional vview Vof thegrenade',

taken on the line 843 of Fig. 1 looking the direction lof thefarrows, .n

Fig. 4, a perspective view ofthe inside castingof the grenade, f; Fig. 5, a horizontal sectional'view taken on the line of.5-5. of Fig. 2, with Vthe Vdetonator removed, and l F ig." a vertical, sectional view of a slightly modified form. 1

AReferring to Fig. 2, a grenade discharger 2 comprising agrenade holding portionl 4- and a rifle engaging "portion or sleeve 3 may be'attachedfto the muzzlev end of a rifle barrel l, by any'd'suitable fa'stening'means. VThe upper'part ofthel discharger which receives lthe grenade controls vits ydirection of kflightand thev part-s3 and Aare connectedV by a conical wall, 5. y f

AThe grenade shown in the drawing coniprises a cup-shaped outer `casing composed p p v l 2-'2` of F ig. l looking in thedirection of vthe arrows and showing the grenade in poof the cylindrical wall lO'and preferably a fiat bottom wall, 11, provided with a central aperture and an.' inside casingwhich also includesfineans for vclosingthe outer casing.

The upper part of the wall *10 maybe provided. with an inwardly extending flange,

threaded as at 18. The casing walls pref- Y erablyare provided with depressions y14 eac-- tending longitudinally and circumferen'- tially tol permit `the Vcasin'gto break vinto fragments i of 'the f proper' V'size and weight when thegrenadeexplodesi1' o y The`Y inside casing consists of an end wall 'l5 provided with threads .15 to engage with the threads 13, and threelongitudinal tubes 17,19 and 20 preferably cast integral-thereioe f with. The end Wan is provided with a. filling opening which may beclosed by a screw plug 16. Holes 22 or other means It will be'noted alsothatin my grenade may be'provided to receive a wrench for as-V sembling the grenade The tube l7,-or discharge tube, is alined with the bore' of the barrel and is slightly llarger inV diameter. The tubes 19 and 20 may be of any size suitable to receive a standard commercial fuse. The lower ends of. these tubes are connected by a passageway or channel v23, the open side of which'is closed by the wall'll when theV grenade assembled. The fuse 24 lies in this channel, its ends, eitending into the tubes 19 and 2O.'V The tubes 19 and20 andl Y the channel 23 therefore-forni a conduit or the fuse. The wall common, to the tubes- 17 audit) is providedfwith an aperture near its uppcr'end, which is adaptedto'receive a` standard small arms 4ammunition primer 26 or other suitablemeans for igniting a i'use'V train. This is insertedv through an aperture- 27 in the opposite wall, whichis afterward closed Vby the screw plug 28. The' space above the fuse may be filled with powder, 25, to a 'point slightly above 4the primer Yor the primer may ignite the Vfuse directly. Y The remainder of the Vtube is thensealed with any suitable sealing substance, such as Vparafiin 29. The other end of the; fuse is pro-L vided with a detonator or blasting cap After the detonator has been insertedn'the tube'20 it may be closed by any suitable clo-V sure such as the' screw 4plug 31. l The inside portion shown in Fig. 4L may be made of any suit-able material preferably zinc or an alloy containinga hghpercentage of zinc. strengthand, therefore, in order, topermit of the tube being sufiicimtly'strong to resist bursting, without exceeding the desirable dimensionsfit mayV sometimes be 'desiiw able to reinforce the tube 17 bymeans of a steel reinforcing tube such asis shown at 17 in Fig. 6. This tubemay be inserted into the finished tube' 17 and fastenedV in any 'desired 'way or it may be originally cast into said tube, z'. le., Vthe steel tube may be placedV inthe mold and the casting molded aroundl the tube. Y 'Y Y u 1 Y VThe operation of thegrenade is :as 'follows: The discharger 2 is attached to the ri'le barrel, andthe grenade slippedinto the discharger. The; rifle isthen held at `the Y proper angle and discharged. The rifle 'bul-V let willpass through the tube 17 and continue in its flight. The friction of the bullet in passing through the tube and the pressure of the gases behind the grenade will'foroe the grenade out of the vdi'scharger with .ver-Y vlocity suiiicient to carry it to its objective. The discharge of the piece has also exploded:V the-primer 26, which has ignitedthe powder which ignited theY fuse 24;. Y. The fuseis consumed until the sparks reach the detonator Vtures illustrated.

This metal. Vhas Vno great 32 with which the grenade is iilled.

saryV time interval can be more accurately determined than by the use of a long trainof powder. Since powder under compression does not burn uniformly, Vparticularly when unevenly packed, it is kdesirable to use as Vlittle asposslble Vand in some cases, noneat Y all for accurate results. In this way I have provided aJgrenade which may be more accurately time'd'than others of this type. It willalso b e noted that by my construction the detonator is contained in a tube 7,30 which explodes, disrupting the tube 20 Y and exploding thecharge of high` explosive sok which maybe open to the exterior and, when the plug 31 ,is unscrewed, the. detonator mayV be'readily'removedthus rendering the grernade inert and safe to han'dle'and the det vonator maybe replaced without disturbing ,the main explosivecharge ofthe grenade.

This Vcould evidently Vn'otbe done if the detonator ,were `in directfcontact with the eX- f plosivej This' feature, in common with several fothers, is of general. application and not necessarily liniitedto use with the otherfea- A. grenade ofthis type maybe -slippedinto the discharger with either end up as' 4the `primer `will function equally well in either position of' the grenade although theinten Vval of time between discharge and detonation will be different forrthe different positions. Y Y

VFrom the foregoing ,description and specificationit will be seen that I have provided a grenade which has accomplished the ob# jects heretofore stated, in a very desirable Y way. AIt vis obvious, also, that my invention is not limited tol the specific forms shown but that many modiii'cations may be made with out exceeding the vscoperof the invention set forth inthe annexed claims.

I claim'.- j p `L1A rile grenade Vcomprising an outer casing, a removable closure therefor, two

fuse; tubes anda'bullet tube carried by Vsaid closureV and l a' passageway l connecting the ends ofthe fuse tubes, one side of which is open to facilitate the-insertion of the fuse into its tubes,` the .parte lbeing so arranged and Vproportioned that the outer casing will forma closure Jror the open side of the connecting passage. Y

' 2. A riflel grenade of the class described comprisinga cup-shaped outer casing, a revmovable ,r'closurertherefor, two fuse Y tubes `andadischarge' tube carriedby said closure and means forming aV passageway vconnecting the endsofthe fuse tubes, one side of whichis open toVv facilitateV the insertion of the fuse' into its tubes, the parts'beingso IGS iis)V arranged and proportioned that the bottom the exterior at each end, a'fuse in said con' duit, a detonator at one end of said fuse and means to close. the end of the conduit nearest the detonator.

d. In a grenade, an explosive receiving container, a substantially U shaped fuse conduit in said container communicating with the exterior at each end, a fuse in said conduit, a detonator at one end of said fuse, igniting means 'comprising a primer adjacent the other end'oic the fuse and a closure for each end of the conduit.

v5. In a rifle grenade, the combination With a discharger adapted to it thermuzzle of a rifle, a grenade constructed to lit said discharger and having a closed and open end, a removable closure iitting the open end,

and a projectile guide and fuse holder carried by said removable closure.

6. In a rifle grenadethe combination with a smooth bore discharger adapted to it the muzzle'orn a rilie, a grenade havingl an outer smooth surface to snugly it said discharger and having its inner surface formed Wlth ridges and depressions to cause the grenade to shatter into fragments, a removable closure fitting said grenade, `a projectile guiding means carried by said cover and fitting in theclosed end ofthe grenade, a use holder carried by said closure, a fuse fitting v in said holder, a detonator connected With said fuse, and a fuse igniting means Vmount-y ed in the fuse holder and extending into the projectile guide to be operated by engagel ment of the projectile. Y

7. A rifle grenade having a closed Wall provided with an aperture, and having an open end, a detachable closure itting in said open end, and having an opening therein, a projectile guide having its endsmounted in the aperture of the grenade and in the opening in said closure, a fuse holder connected with the closure and arranged contiguously to the projectile guide, a fuse in said holder, a detonator in. communication with one ter-V minal of said fuse holder, a bullet impact igniting device disposed" in the vprojectile guide and fuse holder and leading romfthe other terminal of said fuse.

8. A rie grenade having a closed' end 'Y and an open end, a removable closure fitting a fuse igniting means disposed adjacent the other end of said fuse, and a bullet impact s said open end,v a projectile guide having its primer to be engaged by the projectile for L lighting said VrFuse.

V9. A rie grenade having aclosed end and an open end, a detachable closure mounted in said open end, a bullet guide disposed ,in the closure'and the closed end of the grenade, and a fusel holder of substantially serpentine form carried by said closure and arranged contiguously to said bullet ide.

`rifle grenade consisting of a casing adapted to Vfit `discharger and having an open end, a detachable closure forsaidopen end, and a projectile guide and useholder Ymounted in and carried bodily by said clo` ILA rie grenade comprising acasing, a removable closure therefortwo fuse tubes and a discharge tube carried by said closure and a passage-Way connecting the exposed .ends ofthe fuse'tubes to facilitate the in-Y sertion of the fuse into said tubes, said passage-Way when the parts are in position for service being closed by thebottom of saidV casing.

In witness whereof I have attached my signature this 29 day of'vAugust, 191,8.

VJOHN V. MCADAM.

so Y 

